A little boy is going viral after his encounter with Gritty went about as well as you’d expect a surprise face-to-face meeting with a 7-foot, googly-eyed, orange-furred mascot to go: pure panic, followed by a smack.
In a TikTok video posted by Barstool Sports in April 2016, the child is seen sitting in the stands at a Philadelphia Flyers game wearing a jersey. His mom keeps telling him to turn around as Gritty slowly creeps up behind him. A woman in the background explains it’s his first time at a game and he’s the birthday boy.
The crowd around him keeps cheering, trying to get the toddler to look. When he finally turns around, Gritty is just inches from his face.
The kid smacks him right in the mouth. Then immediately starts crying.
The video’s comment section delivered exactly the kind of takes worth screenshotting for a group chat.
“Most accurate response to Gritty ????,” one person wrote.
“My husband watches the Flyers for the team. I watch just for Gritty. ????,” said another.
“Emotional damage ????????????,” a third person added.
“He said he’s more of a Phanatic Fan anyway,” someone joked.
Others sided with the toddler. “Gritty is scary,” one commenter argued.
“Best mascot in pro sports,” another countered.
“Love the @Philadelphia Flyers but I feel the same way bout @Gritty dude,” another wrote.
Several commenters noticed something that elevated the whole clip. They compared Gritty to Big Yellow, the monster mascot from R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour.
“It’s reminding me too much of the ‘Mascot’ episode from R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour!!,” one person wrote.
Another echoed: “To be honest, he does remind me of that one goosebumps show we have the kid gets trapped and inside the mascot.”
They’re referencing a character from the eighth episode of the second season of R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour: The Series. In the episode, two students, Willie and Drake, try to replace their school’s creepy mascot, Big Yellow, with a new wolf mascot. When the replacement mysteriously disappears, they discover Big Yellow is actually a monstrous creature that literally eats anyone who threatens his position.
The toddler’s instincts may have been on point.
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Gritty is the official mascot of the Philadelphia Flyers. Standing at 7 feet tall with non-blinking googly eyes, covered head to toe in orange fur and an unkempt beard, his appearance is one of a kind. His edgy personality and temperamental attitude have pushed the envelope of what’s acceptable for a team mascot.
This hockey season has been even more special for the character. Gritty has taken over section 122 as Gritty’s Chaos Corner during Flyers home games. Fans in the section get a front-row seat to his infamous skits and shenanigans throughout the game.
Those sitting in the Chaos Corner “Splash Zone” should keep their heads on a swivel. Gritty has tricks up his sleeve including silly string attacks, popcorn showers and caking wars.
